BATON ROUGE, La. (Aug. 17, 2021) – Shubhra Misra, Ph.D., P.E., D.CE, D.PE joined the Institute Aug. 1 as a Senior Research Scientist bringing with him his passion for integrating environmental considerations, human dimensions and civil engineering to develop better solutions to climate challenges.
Misra received his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Coastal Engineering) from the University of Delaware and comes to the Water Institute from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) where he worked on large-scale coastal storm risk management projects. Misra served as a Climate Preparedness and Resilience Specialist in the Department of Defense Climate Action Plan’s Climate Action Team and has extensive experience in hydraulic and coastal engineering.
“How do you make the natural, built and human systems work together in a sustainable way, especially when viewed through the lens of climate change; that’s the challenge to me,” Misra said. Coastal engineering and climate change adaptation require innovative interdisciplinary approaches in order to address challenges faced by coastal communities today and into the future.
“I think we understand natural and built infrastructure systems better, individually as well as their linkages, than we understand human systems and their interactions. That’s what’s exciting about the Water Institute, the social and community engagement focus along with Structured Decision Making work the Water Institute is doing,” Misra said.
Vulnerabilities of coastal communities are evolving and these areas are facing unprecedented challenges due to climate change stressors such as seal level rise, environmental degradation and continued demands for economic sustenance and growth.
“In addition to adaptation, to pro-actively develop mitigation strategies to address challenges we’ve never seen before is a daunting and exciting responsibility” Misra said. All of this work needs to be done while considering environmental justice and equity issues. “The human dimension is absolutely critical.”
Misra was a member of several USACE nationwide working groups on compound flooding and flood risk, participated in and organized district-wide and nationwide workshops as the Galveston district representative and was awarded the Corps Civilian Service Achievement Medal in 2021 as part of the project delivery team in support of the Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay Coastal Storm Risk Management Project.
“Shubhra brings years of experience working on coastal projects and challenges in the private, public and government levels,” said Ioannis Georgiou, Director of Coastal and Deltaic Systems Modeling at the Water Institute. “His abilities to not only bring different perspectives into coastal challenges, but to actively work across disciplines to integrate the human and ecological aspects into solutions is a great asset to the work the Water Institute is doing here in Louisiana and around the country.”
Misra lives in Houston, Texas with his wife and son.